Galaxy Luminosity Function of the Coma Cluster from Deep $u'-g'-r'$ Wendelstein Imaging Data
Abstract
We derive the band galaxy luminosity function (GLF) of quenched red sequence in the Coma cluster from a deep-imaging survey with around the cluster center. The dataset comprises deep -, -, and -band data obtained with the Wendelstein Wide Field Imager on the 2.1\,m Fraunhofer Wendelstein Telescope reaching median surface brightness limits in boxes of . We measure structural parameters across a large dynamic range in galaxy brightness (), from the brightest cluster galaxy to low-luminosity dwarfs, including compact dwarf galaxies and ultra-diffuse galaxies. We automatically identify 5161 cluster member candidates based on their membership on the quiescent sequence in the versus color--color diagram and their red sequence membership. The structural parameters of bright galaxies are obtained via isophotal modeling, and fully automated parametric image fitting for faint ones. Injection-recovery tests and two identically analyzed reference fields provide statistical corrections for completeness and contamination, yielding a representative GLF that reliably probes the faint end and may serve as a benchmark for future studies. We report a best-fit double Schechter band GLF with a comparatively steep faint-end slope . We perform an apples-to-apples comparison with the Coma counterpart in the SLOW simulations, finding overall agreement but a deficit of bright and an excess of dwarf galaxies in the simulation, despite its shallower faint-end slope, highlighting the need for true apples-to-apples comparisons that consider both normalization and slope for a consistent interpretation of the GLF.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.26889,
title = {Galaxy Luminosity Function of the Coma Cluster from Deep $u'-g'-r'$ Wendelstein Imaging Data},
author = {Raphael Zöller and Matthias Kluge and Ralf Bender and Jan-Niklas Pippert and Benjamin Seidel and Claus Gössl and Ulrich Hopp and Hanna Kellermann and Christoph Ries and Arno Riffeser and Michael Schmidt and Luis Thomas},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.26889},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
25 pages, 16 figures, submitted to ApJ